MICROSOFT STOPS P2P PATCH DISTRIBUTION

The BBC reports that Microsoft has issues a “take down” notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to the file-swapping activists Downhill Battle. The activists began distributing Microsoft’s SP2 security update package through peer-to-peer file-sharing networks in order to demonstrate the potential of the medium for distributing such programs to a mass-market. Said the group

"This project shows how file-sharing technology gives people without budgets or huge server space the power to solve problems themselves, without waiting for the government or some corporation to do it for them."

The version they were distributing was intended for corporations who will install it on multiple PCs. A slimmed down version will be made available for home PC users in the near future.

The IPKat says, while Downhill Battle’s aims may have been laudable, this does not give them the right to ignore the IP rights of the developers of the patch, Microsoft, especially since Microsoft did have plans to distribute it in a way that would be accessible to all.

Another downhill battle here